Teaching authentic data science without prerequisites

Matthew Beckman
Penn State University

Daniel Kaplan
Macalester College

U.S. Conference on Teaching Statistics
University Park, PA
May 20, 2017

Motivation & Background: Main Idea

Our students are capable of much more than we often give them credit for, and we can do more with them than we think. With the proper framework to initially get things off the ground, they can be doing authentic data science in their first semester.

Motivation & Background: Introduction to R (Penn State)

Structure

Students

Thoughts before, during, and after course

Motivation & Background: Data Computing Fundamentals (Macalester)

Tools: Working code

Tools: RMarkdown

Tools: Other Resources

Sample Activities

  1. Popular Names Activity: https://dtkaplan.shinyapps.io/Names_over_time/
  2. Bicycle Rental: https://dtkaplan.shinyapps.io/Bicycle_rentals/
  3. [Machine Learning activity]

Student Outcomes: Core Skills

Student Outcomes: Broad Exposure

PSU Final Project

FIFA World Rankings Analysis

Movies in the 21st Century

Stanley Cup Winners

2013 FBI Crime Reporting

Vegetarian Restaurant Analysis

Other interesting projects

Leading Causes of Death in NYC

Analysis of Thanksgiving

MLB Free Agent Analysis

History of Reddit

Student Feedback

Course Details

Introduction to R (Penn State)